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Bound Hero Battle: Klein & Clarine

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Bound Hero Battle: Klein and Clarine

Happy New Year everyone! This year brings us a brand new Bound Hero Battle, and this time we’re facing off against another pair of siblings: Klein and Clarine. Their map features everyone’s favourite mechanic, reinforcements, though the foes featured here aren’t usually quite as annoying as most Infernal offerings. Also making this map a bit easier is Eir, who is the newest edition to the F2P Askr brigade -- her high Resistance, good Speed, and versatile Skills make her able to fill a variety of roles for the cost of only one occupied team slot.

The most challenging part of this Bound Hero Battle is definitely the sheer amount of foes you’ll have to deal with; while Klein and Clarine themselves have some tricky aspects to their kits, they’re nowhere near as massively overpowered as they could’ve been. Making use of both strong ranged and tanky units on this map will likely serve you well – though of course breaking through the enemy lines with sheer firepower is always an option.

Who to Choose

As is generally true of Bound Hero Battles, the individual units used is very important as they will primarily inform your strategy. There are a few routes you can take depending on what units are available to you, and, of course, adjustment based on the units you possess is always a possibility.

Tanks

Even though you’ll likely want to make use of a striker in order to cut down on the amount of damage your tank will take, using some sort of bait unit can go a long way in making this map a bit more manageable. If you’re able to KO one or two foes on the first turn’s enemy phase, you’ll be much less likely to be overwhelmed by the reinforcements that will spawn.

You’ll likely want to make use of tanks that can counterattack at-range given how they’ll be going up against two archers. Armors such as Zelgius, Winter Tharja, Legendary Tiki, Fallen Hardin, and Brave Hector are able to hit hard very upon attacking and counterattacking, especially if they’re making use of Bold Fighter, Quick Riposte, or Vengeful Fighter. Black Knight is a powerful F2P option due to his powerful semi-exclusive Special, Black Luna. Do note that the infantry axe fighter is carrying a Slaying Hammer and will therefore deal effective damage to all these units – it’s advisable to KO it with a striker to avoid this issue.

Infantry F2P options really are functionally limited to Legendary Ike, whose native Warding Breath grants him accelerated cooldown and extra Resistance, and Fjorm, who can easily tank ranged damage due to her exclusive Special, Ice Mirror. Cavalry tanks are similarly limited -- Xander and Camus may struggle, but may survive if under the effects of Ward Cavalry.

Dragons are also very strong tanks, especially when they’re equipped with Lightning Breath (or another Breath and Distant Counter, if you’re feeling fancy). Nowi, Corrin (f), Male Kana, Adrift Corrin (m), Adult Tiki, Young Tiki, Summer Young Tiki, Halloween Myrrhand Legendary Robin will all likely be able to do the job and do it well, but Kana, both Corrins, Summer Young Tiki, and Halloween Myrrh are particularly wanting of Lightning Breath / Distant Counter. They are also incredibly useful due to their damage-seeking effect against ranged foes, which is precisely the kind of foe they will need to tank. The more you can boost their Defense, the better they’ll perform at this role – Spurs, Drives, and Skills such as Steady Breath / Stance, Fury, or even Defense +3 can help them take less damage here.

Brave Hector is great example of a tank that has a considerable offensive presence regardless of whether he’s attacking or being attacked.

Strikers

Two fliers will spawn on this map as reinforcements, but their presence isn’t strictly informing – archers are almost always a good choice of striker, especially if they make use of a Brave Bow. Their ability to overpower most foes and deal hefty damage with a timely Special activation means they’ll serve you well in battling through the throngs of enemies you’ll be facing. Brave Lyn, WF Hinoka, Halloween Jakob, and Summer Takumi are potential strikers you may want to use, with a special mention going to Brave Lyn given her potential F2P status. Really, any Brave Bow archer should do the trick though. Colored archers like Legendary Lucina, Legendary Lyn, and NY Fjorm may perform well, but will have to watch out for the Weapons Triangle; which is a distinct disadvantage when compared to their colorless counterparts.

Alternatively, melee Brave users are able to hit foes twice without retaliation, and may even quad hit if they outspeed an enemy. Cherche, Cordelia, and Elincia are all great melee Brave users who can make excellent use of class-specific buffs, and when equipped with Hit and Run or Drag Back they are able to retreat once attacking. WT Reinhardt may also prove useful due to his weapon granting him follow-ups regardless of phase.

Brave and Blade tome wielders can also serve to be useful if your team composition provides them with the appropriate buffs, though other mages can also be powerful strikers. Tharja, Reinhardt, Tailtiu, Ishtar, Ophelia, WT Olwen, Lewyn, SF Nino, and Nino are potential options here, especially if they are equipped with a Breaker skill to add to their coverage.

Refreshers

Refreshers help provide support, may even have a decent offensive presence themselves, and can usually tank a hit or two, if need be. Any of them will work, since they really shouldn’t be battling too many foes anyways – though Legendary Azura is particularly notable due to her ability to grant her flying and infantry allies 1 extra movement when she sings for them.

Healers

Due to every healer having access to the Wrathful Staff refinement, they can serve as incredibly potent colorless pseudo-mages – who can heal to boot! Brave Veronica is known as the scourge of Aether Raids for good reason: her excellent exclusive weapon prevents counterattacks, buffs allies, and debuffs foes after she attacks, and her access to Wrathful Staff makes her a potent offensive force in her own right. If you don’t have her, though, other healers like Genny, Loki, Elise, Maribelle, Ethlyn, Wrys, and Lissa are potential additions to a team that may serve you well.

Supporters

As units that offer extra utility, supporters typically fit one of the above roles while also providing some sort of assist to your other units. Buffers, debuffers, and drivers all can play a valuable role in your team composition by making use of their incredible utility.

Because of Skill Inheritance, any unit can be a buffer with enough investment -- many Drives, Spurs, Hones, Fortifies, and Dual Rallies are readily accessible on 4 star units, and can be further stacked with seals for maximum coverage. Tactics seals are also easily accessible and provide a hefty +6 boost to one stat. Notable options who natively provide buffs through their exclusive weapons include YT Olivia, Performing Azura, Legendary Azura, Brave Veronica, Eirika, and Ephraim, while Brave Lucina, New Year Corrin, and New Year Azura are able to stack Drives through theirs.

That isn’t to say that offensive juggernauts can’t provide team support, though -- class specific buffs (like Hone Cavalry or Fortify Fliers) are easily accessible and incredibly potent. Considering that most offensive units don’t make heavy use of their C-slot Skill anyways, they can inherit these Skills to boost the team’s firepower.

Some units are able to support both themselves or their allies at the same time. Legendary Tiki, Helbindi, and Brave Veronica are examples of units who buff both themselves and their team when fulfilling certain conditions.

Debuffers can make use of weaponry, Skills, or Seals to help de-fang the enemy team and make them significantly less threatening. Ploys, Chills, and Smokes especially are wide-reaching and potent debuffs that can easily turn the tide of the battle at a pivotal moment. Lilina and Soren have a Chill effect on their refined weapons, while Male Morgan has a unique buff/debuff dual effect on his.

Dagger units also inflict debuffs when they attack, which can be very useful to cut through an Infernal foes’ inflated HP. Among Daggers, however, Eir is particularly unique – her status as a flier grants her excellent mobility and access to unique support Skills like Guidance, plus her kit perfectly synergizes with her unique weapon to grant her both offensive prowess and excellent support utility. Not only does she debuff foes within 2 spaces of the target she attacks (and the target itself if she does not KO them), her C-slot Skill Sparkling Boost provides some much-needed healing at the start of every turn to the most damaged unit on your team – excluding Eir herself. She’s a great option if you’re finding the mages a little tough to deal with or just generally aren’t sure how to fill a slot on your team.

Eir is a particularly capable support unit – one that’s available to every player for free to boot!

Strategy

Strategizing for this Bound Hero Battle may be a bit complicated due to the presence of reinforcements, but the relatively weak foes you’ll be facing on Infernal shouldn’t be as frustrating as they usually are. While it can be difficult to exactly predict what will happen due to IV / Merge variance, here’s some general tips to get you started.

Starting Without Stumbles

If you’re a dedicated reader of these guides, you’ll know by now that most of these maps are won or lost before they even start. While it may be tempting to jump right in, knowing (and loving!) your enemy will help you not only choose your units, but also figure out where to begin.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, there’s a few things you should be taking note of before you forge forward and place your tank without a care in the world. Clarine would normally be a non-issue, but the fact that she carries Dazzling Staff means that when she attacks, she won’t be counterattacked. When combined with her Fear+ staff (which debuffs your units’ Attack in a 2 space radius from the attacked target) and Spd Ploy, Clarine becomes rather annoying if she’s not KO’d quickly. Thankfully, her lack of Wrathful Staff and her mediocre Speed means she won’t be dealing much damage – though it’s important to consider her range when you’re starting out.

If you can avoid being hit by Clarine on enemy phase, you’ll prevent your team from being inflicted with a hefty Attack debuff.

The dagger user might have low Attack, but Flashing Blade along with Chill Spd means that they’ll likely be doubling and proccing Luna against any of your units put in their line of fire. This isn’t particularly threatening to most units with good Defense and can be a good choice of foe to bait on the first turn, though be aware you’ll likely need to make use of Quick Riposte or Vengeful Fighter to secure follow-ups and finish this foe off.

The spot directly to the left of Tharja in the danger zone is a good place to place a tank to bait this dagger.

As was mentioned above, the infantry axe fighter is carrying a Slaying Hammer but is otherwise pretty uninspiring. If you’re using an armor unit as your tank, be wary of this foe – even a red armour will take heavy damage from them.

This foe has a pretty wide range, so if you’re using an armour tank and don’t have a striker to deal with them right away, it’s a good idea to bait in the one spot they can’t hit.

Finally, while Klein himself isn’t particularly dangerous – 47 Attack with Odd Atk Wave not active isn’t exactly insurmountable to tank by any stretch of the imagination – the fact that his fellow archer grants him extra cooldown if his Attack is greater than the unit he is attacking makes him a bit more threatening that he would be otherwise. This is particularly true if you’re using a Dragon to tank him since their Attack can be on the lower side; and while his Glacies proc only scales off his 27 Resistance, it still can prove to net him a KO. Still, he’s generally not notably difficult to deal with if you stack your tank with enough Defense to weather the storm, even if he has Odd Attack Wave active. If you’re struggling with him, try equipping you tank with the Distant Defense seal and/or waiting until turn 2 to bait him, which will render the Attack boost from his Wave Skill a non-issue. Moreover, since he’s within range of a ranged striker, it’s possible to KO him before he even attacks.

Klein can be a bit annoying, but he’s not exceptionally difficult to play around if you’re cautious.

Spellbinding Strike

If you are using an armour unit in your team composition, it’s advisable to deal with the Slaying Hammer axe infantry right away. If you don’t, they can potentially catch you off guard – and besides, any foe you KO now is a foe you won’t have to KO later. Red mages are a good fit for this role, though any sufficiently powerful striker will likely do the trick.

Even if you’re not using an armoured unit, KOing this foe will help with your crowd control.

Far From Unbreakable

While it may seem like a good idea to keep the breakable wall intact in order to put as much space between you and your foes as possible, you may find that attacking it will end up putting you in a more favourable position in a turn or two. Because maneuvering room comes at a premium, every little bit of space you can procure for yourself helps. Of course, this is entirely dependent on the flow of battle – you may find that keeping the wall intact buys you some valuable time to get your units into a more favourable layout. Keep experimenting and you’ll find a strategy that works for you.

Eir attacking this wall allows me to later get Hector into a position where he can attack a spawned foe.

Chilling Out

Wide-ranging debuffs like Chills and Ploys can be difficult to deal with, especially when they prevent you from netting a key KO. Luckily, they’re far from permanent – in fact, they cease to take effect once your unit has already acted once that turn, whether that means attacking or simply being double tapped to stay in place. When combined with a refresher, this means your unit can be refreshed to attack without being affected by the debuff – and another unit with Reposition or a similar Skill can get them out of danger.

Now that Eir has been refreshed by Azura, she is no longer under the effects of Chill Spd and is able to attack Clarine twice.

Guidance Granted

A reason to use at least one flier in your team composition (besides their excellent maneuverability) is definitely Guidance – it allows your infantry and armored units within 2 spaces of the equipped unit to move to a space adjacent to them. On a map like this where reinforcement spawns can sometimes leave your tanks overextended, having an option to allow them to easily and safely retreat is always welcome. Furthermore, the fact that this Skill has been released as a Seal means that it’s more accessible than ever.

Eir being equipped with the Guidance seal grants Hector the ability to greatly extend his movement range. Once he’s danced, he’ll be able to KO the lance flier – which is particularly handy considering Eir and Tharja can’t do the same.

Saving Something Special

If you’ve reached the end of the map and have hit a wall, try restarting the map while paying special attention to your cooldown management. Oftentimes a timely Special activation can help you break through a particularly beefy foe, and you might find that simply dealing chip damage to one foe, abstaining from attacking when you don’t need to, or tanking a hit you’d otherwise avoid can make the difference.

Eir’s Special activation allows her to handily KO this foe which she otherwise wouldn’t be able to beat – and that’s no accident.

If At First You Don’t Succeed

Don’t be fooled by video walkthroughs of any Bound Hero Battle that you watch -- it’s very rare for anyone to beat high-difficulty content (or record a video of themselves doing so!) on their first try. Additionally, the potential variance in unit builds that Skill Inheritance brought along with the random nature of summoning has resulted in pretty much every single summoner having different building blocks to work with. This, when combined with the high difficulty level of Infernal, may prove frustrating while someone is trying to find the right combination of units and moves. The key thing to keep in mind is that it may take some light Skill Inheritance and seal shuffling as well as multiple tries of the map to find a strategy that works for you. Every single turn you complete gets you one step closer to completing the puzzle. Finally, reading about or watching videos of successful strategies may also help you break through a particularly difficult turn that you can’t complete, or may give you ideas of a new unit to use.